Tiếng Việt · Slang Attested

báo thủ

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Also seen as: con báo

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

A walking disaster — someone whose “help” reliably creates expensive problems for family and friends.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

người gây ra vấn đề tốn kém cho gia đình và bạn bè

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: A “leopard-er”: báo puns on “leopard” and “to alarm/cause trouble” (báo hại).

How to use it

✓ Use it when

Groaning about the friend or child who wrecks everything they touch.

Where it’s used: Used Toàn quốc & hải ngoại · Vietnam-wide & diaspora Origin Mạng xã hội · Vietnamese internet culture

Examples

Nó sửa giùm cái laptop xong phải đem ra tiệm cứu — đúng là báo thủ.“Fixed” the laptop for me and it had to be rescued by a shop — a true leopard.

Editorial example (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Curated editorially (owner-requested humorous-slang research, July 2026). From the “con báo” meme (~2023). Era: ~2023 – present.

Topics: Gen Z slang

Common questions

What does “báo thủ” mean?

A walking disaster — someone whose “help” reliably creates expensive problems for family and friends. Literally: A “leopard-er”: báo puns on “leopard” and “to alarm/cause trouble” (báo hại).

Is “báo thủ” formal or informal?

báo thủ is generally informal; connotation: exasperated, humorous.